Automatic railroad-crossing gate and signal



Oct. 9, 1928. 1,686,771

D. SCHNEIDER Y AUTOMATIC RAILROAD CRQSSING GATE AND SIGNAL Filed April 21, 1927 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 A TTORNEQ:

Oct. 9, 1928. 1,686,771

DQSCHNEDER AUTOMATIC RAILROAD CROSSING GATE AND SIGNAL Filei April 21, 1927 Sheets-Sheet 2 Bri id? LvJ . 1,686,771 D.$CHNHDER AUTOMATIC RAILRQAD CROSSING GATE AND SIGNAL Oct. 9, 1928.

Filed April 21, 1927 3 Sheets-Sheet INVENTOR BY G 2 ATTO NEY;

Patented Oct. 9,

I STATES PA OFFICE,

DANIEL scHuEInEaoF Lam, emrbaaia AUTOMATIC RAILROAD-'CROSsmG GATE AND s'iGNAL;

Application filed April 21, 1927. Serial No? 185,520.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in automatic railroad cross ng gates and slgnals, and has more particular reference to an improved protective device of this character adapted to be employed at grade {crossings where highways intersect railroads. f

The rimaryv object of'this invention is to provide a device of the abovekind'involvinganormally lowered or, closed gate adapted to extend across the highway at the crossing so as to warn the drivers of vehicles of their approach to the crossing, and'means for auto mat-ica'lly opening the gate as the vehicleapproaches' the same, including a depressible ramp or platform over which the vehiclemust travel-in passing'the gate.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide simple and effective means for raising the gate to open position including a depressible ramp or platform 'arranged at the approach side of the gate and operatively connected to the latter;

- Aiifurther ohjectsis to providesimple and effective means for sounding an audible signal or alarm upon depression of the ramp 7 and opening-of the gate so that additional assuranceis had of warningfthe driver of the vehicle of his approach to-the crossing immee diately'befo're passing onto the track railsof mentarytop plan" View showing automatic railway gates and signals, constructed in ac co'rda'n'ce with the present invention-,- operatively arranged on the highway at opposit sides of'the railroad track; A a y Figure 2 is anenl'arge'd fragmentary side elevational view' of one of the gates and'signals shown in Figure 1' together with the associated actuating mechanism Figure 3 is a fragmentary view partly in top plan and partly in longitudinal section, of the device shown in Figure 2, with parts removed and omitted'to reveal details of conf y I ible member 16 havingoneend attached to struction loweredi; a

Figure is a transverse section-taken substantially'upon line of Figure 1; and

Figure 5 is a fragmentary ,view partly in elevation and partly'in vertical section, show ing the bell of the signal and means for actuating the hanirner'thereof as arranged when the gate iszinitiating its loweringinovement.

Referring more in detail to the drawings, automatic gates and signals constructed in accordance with the present invention are adapted to be disposed'or arranged at opposite sides of the highway 5 and at opposite sides of the track 6 of the railroad whichsaid I highway intersects for respectively control- "ling trafiic moving in opposite'directions, as

shown in Figure 1, "an'das the construction of each automatic gate, and signal is thesame,

description of onewill suffice for bothi As shown,;eachiautomaticgate and signal 7 embodies 'a suitable post? rigidly mounted centrally between the sides of the highway and at apointadjacent one side of the railroad, and pivotally mounted at its inner end as at 8 upon the post Tis a vertically swinging gate or gate bar 9 adapted, when lowered to closed position; to extend across half the road or highway 5 asshown in Figures 1 and 4 tocontrol' the trafiicapproaching the track inone" direction, a suitable. post'10 being rigidly mounted at the adjacent out'erside o'fthe roador highway to form a rest or support'for the free outer end of the gate when Embedded in the roadwaycoextensive with the latter as well as arranged at the approach side of the gate at the samesideof the highwayand therailroad is a rectangular elongatedframe 12 of a vertically swinging ramp which further includes floor-member 13' suitably secured upon and covering the ramp frame 12 andpreferably formed of "sheet metal. The outer end of the ramp frame is pivoted to the outerend of the base frame 11 upon a transverse pivot rod l iwhose ends are fixed'in the side members of the base' frame. 11'. It will thus' be seen that thefree endof the ramp extends to a point adjacent the associated gate 9, and'thelfi oor 13 of the ramp is extended beyondthe free end of the rampfr'ame 12 as well as inclined downwardly so that the wheels of a vehicle may'readily ride olf'of' the ramp in passin'g the gate,

Rigid with the pivote'd endof the gate .9 is

a'pulley segment 15 over which passes a flea the pulley segment and its other end attached to the adjacent free end of an actuating bar 1'? fixed to the adjacent side of the ramp frame as at 18. As shown clearly in Figure 3, the actuating bar17 is fastened to the ramp frame at its outer end, and is directed laterally and so as to terminate at a point directly below the pulley segment for connection with the flexible member 16. It is thus apparent that when the left hand wheels of avehicle ride onto the ramp it will be -automatically depressed by the weight of the vehiole so asv to exert a downward pull on the flexible element 16, causing the latter to unwind from the pulley segment 15, and thereby causing the'gate 9 to swing upwardlyto open position as indicated by dotted lines in Figure 6. Thus, the vehicle effects opening of the-gate when approaching the latter before the vehicle may pass over the railroad track. A suitable means is provided for normally yieldingly lowering and maintaining the gate lowered with the ramp in raised inclined position and the flexible element 16 wound upon the pulley segment 15. For this purpose'a helical'ten'sion spring 19 is preferably' attached at its upper end to the gate inwardly of the post 7, and at its lower end to;an anchor 19, thereby-insuring lowering and closing of the gate as soon as the vehicle passes off of the ramp. A suitable reflector element 20 is preferably fastened to the approach side of the gate 9 intermediate the ends of the latter so that the lights of a motor -vehicle may shine thereon when the vehicle approaches the railroad, thereby furnishing additional effective warning of the approach to the crossing at night time. Obviously, suitableztraincontrolled means may be pro- .vided for preventing depression of the ramp or platform of the device arranged atea'ch side of the railroad so that the gate may not beopened when a train is approaching-the crossing. However, as such train controlled means are broadly old and well known in the art,v specific. disclosure thereof' herein is not made, the same forming no specilic part of the present invention. i

It will be noted that the gate 9 is pivoted to the post 7 at a point below the upper end of the latterQand suitably mounted upon the upper end of said post 7 is the sound producing shell 21 of a bell forming part of an audible'signal. This signal bell further embodies a pivoted hammer 22 mounted upon a horizontal axis at its lower end and normally yieldingly urged into contact with the shell at its striking upper end as at 23. The hammer 22 is provided with a lateral lug 24 intermediate its ends and above its pivot 25, and mounted upon the pivot 25 intermediate its ends is a lever 26 which is weighted at its lower end as at 27 so as to normally assume a vertical position with its upper end in engagement with the lug 24 as shown-inFigure 4. The lower end portion or arm of the lever 26' is also 7 raising the gate the'teeth'29 will successively" engage the lug 28 so as to ca'usethe hammer to be rapidly vibrated for causing a-plm rality of taps'upon the'soundl producing shell 21, thereby additionally 5 warning a driver of a vehicle of his final approach to the railroadtraclr as the gate is opened. While I the bell mechanism has been specifically shown and described as associated wlththe ate )o'st 1t is nevertheless OlOVlOUS that the Z3 7 same may be associated with a separate post" provnled a second segment is mounted upon '90 the latter post and provided with the teeth 29-as well as operatively connected=to the platforn'i of the device, the hammer 22' and lever 26 being also mountedon this additional post. In other words, it is not desired to limit the invention. to mounting th'ealarm mechanism upon the gate post as shownand described. I i

In operation, the left hand wheels of a vehicle approaching the crossing from either side of Figure 1 will-ride onto a rampior platform, thereby depressing the ramp'and swinging the associated gate 9 upwardlyto open position: Complete passageof the vehicle past the gate is insured before closing of said gate by riding of the vehicle wheels on theextended free end of the platform'fioor', and as the vehicle rides off of the platform and onto the railroad track,..the spring 19 will return the parts to normal-position withthe ramp raised and the gate 9 closed for-the succeeding actuatiom In each instance, the opening of the gate will effect sounding ofthe bell as described above, thereby insuring i proper caution in approachingand. passing over the tracks. Of course, ifautomatic locking means is provided for-prevent dep'ression ofthe platforms and openings of I the gates upon approaching ,ofa, train toward the crossing, the gates will not be opened and the vehicle will stop until passing of the train, whereupon automatic release of the platform will. insure'that openingof the gate will subsequently take place due to the weight of the vehicle upon the platform in question. It is noted that reflector elements such as employed at 20 are in general use in fixed positions upon roadways at thepresent time, and reflector elements are quitecon-.

spicuous in the day time as well as. at night. By mounting such a reflector element upon the intermediate portion of the gate vision thereof is more effectively insured'than when the same are mounted at the side of the roadway v as is now practiced.

the light from the headlights of approaching vehicles is more effectively insured by this Moreover, reflection of arrangement, thereby providing effective cautionlng means for serv1ce at nighttime. -From the foregoing description it willbe seen that I have provided a simple and effec-f tive crossing gate and signal mechanism which may be readily installed and is com} ing movement and adapted to be lowered to closed position extending half way across the highway, a hinged depressible platform ramp in the highway adjacent and at the approach side of the gate and having a free exit end, means operatively connecting the free end of the ramp to the gate for opening the latter upon depression of the ramp, yieldable means to normally lower the gate and raise the ramp, said connecting means embodying an inwardly pro ect1ng bar rigid.

with the'free end of the ramp, a pulley element on thepivoted end of the gate, and a flexible member attached to and passed over the pulley element and having its lower end attached to the bar and the yieldable means comprising a spring attached at one endto the pulley element and ground anchored at its other end.

'2. In arailroad highway crossing. gate, a

post at one sideof the railroad tracks and at thecenter of the highway, a gate bar pivoted at one end on the post for vertical swinging movementand adapted to be lowered to closed position extending half way across the.

highway, a hinged depressible platform ramp in the highway adjacent and 'at'the approach side of'the gate and having a free exit end, an arm'projecting from the free swinging end of the ramp, a pulley element on the pivoted endvof the gate bar, a cable anchored to thepu'lley and attached to the arm, and a spring connecting the pulley to the ground at the side thereof opposite the cable connection with'the arm.

Intestimony whereof I afiix my slgnature.

, DANIEL" SCHNEIDER. 

